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Maximus vii hero m.2 win7/8.1 install error

MSTRCONTLPRGM
Level 7
I am having trouble getting Win 7/8.1 (I have tried both, CD and USB) to install on my drive. The M.2 needs to be enabled in BIOS, and while the Win 7/8.1 can recognize the drive, and format it however I keep getting an error during installation.

"Window's can't be installed on this drive, Check BIOS settings"

I haven't tried the install on a SATA III SSD, I would rather have an OS on the M.2 (SAMSUNG XP941 512GB) I would prefer Win 7
but I would suck it up if I had to use Win 8.1. I also haven't tried a Linux yet (to see if it was some kind of format issue in Win)

Am I missing something? This is the first time I have built a machine with M.2 as an OS drive. Any help in the right direction is appreciated.

I confirmed with Asus support that the "Plextor M6E" is the only M.2 SATA tested working on this motherboard. The support is improving with time, just the tech is still quite newish that solid plug in play standards are not there yet. I loaded Win 7 on a separate Samsung 850 returned the XP941/ ordered a M6e. Alternatively, the XP941 could have worked as storage drive NOT an OS drive. Yes, I could have used an adapter for PCI however I purchased this motherboard specifically to use the M.2 slot for an OS drive.
8,312 Views
9 REPLIES 9

Norcus
Level 8
Is your PCI_E x4 slot in M2 mode?

Yes it is. I can see it in the Win install yet I still wont let me install on the drive.

Norcus
Level 8
Well I never tried an M2 drive, but there are also a number of compatibility settings for booting (UEFI vs OPROM legacy something). You should probably check those out if you haven't already. Also check your fast boot settings.

If you are confident you have set it all up correctly, the next step will be to contact Asus support I guess.

oliveone
Level 7
I also could not succeed in installing 2 different M2 ssd on Maximus VII. Learned that only one brand M2 was tested with Maximus, that being (I think) a Plextor? I gave up on M2 form factor SSD, even tho that was one reason I purchased the Maximus VII Hero. Hope you have better luck.

Menthol
Level 14
I have been using a Plextor m6e, works excellent, I am linking you to a guide Chino has for the RVE, install will be the same, I believe he says the you can only install the OS in UEFI mode. http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?53091-Rampage-V-Extreme-M-2-Setup-And-Windows-Installation-...
As far as only one brand being tested, there was only one brand to test, the M.2 slot is for M.2 pcie drives, some motherboards are for M.2 SATA drives, which there are more to choose from as they are in more laptops but are limited to SATA speeds where the pcie drives are much faster. Follow Chino's guide with the hero bios settings and you should be alright

MSTRCONTLPRGM
Level 7
I confirmed with Asus support that the "Plextor M6E" is the only M.2 SATA tested working on this motherboard. The support is improving with time, just the tech is still quite newish that solid plug in play standards are not there yet. I loaded Win 7 on a separate Samsung 850 returned the XP941/ ordered a M6e. Alternatively, the XP941 could have worked as storage drive NOT an OS drive. Yes, I could have used an adapter for PCI however I purchased this motherboard specifically to use the M.2 slot for an OS drive.

Thanks Menthol for the guide. I plan on doing just this.

MSTRCONTLPRGM wrote:
I confirmed with Asus support that the "Plextor M6E" is the only M.2 SATA tested working on this motherboard. The support is improving with time, just the tech is still quite newish that solid plug in play standards are not there yet. I loaded Win 7 on a separate Samsung 850 returned the XP941/ ordered a M6e. Alternatively, the XP941 could have worked as storage drive NOT an OS drive. Yes, I could have used an adapter for PCI however I purchased this motherboard specifically to use the M.2 slot for an OS drive.

Thanks Menthol for the guide. I plan on doing just this.


Thank you! This is important information (maybe a stickie with compatible M2 drives?).
+1 rep to both you and Menthol

supresmooth
Level 7
You will need to convert the SM951 from MBR to GPT.

Here is a tutorial on doing so.

Puffnstuff
Level 10
Glad you figured out what the problem was. I really dislike how you loose pcie lanes by using the m2 slot.
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master, AMD 3900X, EVGA 360 aio, 32gb G.Skill Trident Z Neo, Samsung 970 Pro NVME 512gb, WD Black NVME 1 TB, Crucial MX500 2tb, Zotac GTX 1080 AMP!, EVGA Nu Audio, CM HAF 932